Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Two days ago, George Floyd was buried. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the African-American people who have been under the knee of suppression for so long. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. The Black Lives Matter movement is strengthening and correctly building a community response to what needs to be done in the United States but we would all agree that our support for it is best reflected in what we do to counter racism in our own country. I was glad to see yesterday that the Taoiseach had an online meeting with Irish people of colour to talk about how we should use this special moment to eliminate racism in this country. I want to know the Taoiseach's thoughts on what we can do specifically in this regard.

It was interesting to read relevant articles on this subject in the newspapers today. There was a story about Le Chéile secondary school, Tyrellstown. In a sense, it was a good story in that it was about integration. It was about a black Irish teacher showing how it can be done and how we can integrate and rid ourselves of the scourge of racism. The statistics were interesting, however. One in ten of our children is from a non-Irish or new Irish background but only one in 20 of our teachers is. We know from our constituencies that, increasingly, there is segregation in our school system, whereby certain schools take all the pupils from the new communities while others pretty much take none. Therefore, if we are serious about this issue, should we not commit to ensuring our education system is fully integrated so there will be no segregation and separation as pupils start out in the school system? Is that not one thing we could commit to trying to do?

In a newspaper today there was a story by a young Irishman, Sean Gallen, who gave his experience of being othered and, from the age of six, being given that name, "You nigger". He explained how this completely undermines people. Friends and relations of colour in this country, Travellers and members of other minorities, speak of the same experience. It is real.

It is interesting to consider policing in this regard. We must make sure that policing, as it evolves, will be blind to colour, ethnicity, postcode, or where someone comes from. Again, we should look at the statistics. One in ten people is new Irish but only one in 200 gardaí is from a new Irish ethnic background. A second commitment to change could be to ensure our society does not continue to fall foul of the lack of security for all people in the country.

I hope we are coming to really address the third matter, which is how we treat those who are most vulnerable. If people are seeking asylum or refuge here, we must immediately end the processes where we put them in conditions in direct provision that fundamentally undermine their mental health and ability to make this country their home if they are approved to stay here. The way we are doing things fundamentally undermines their health, so it must stop and change. I welcome the sense I have from parties across this House that this is something we can all commit to doing. We must look to be the very best we can in accepting and welcoming asylum seekers to our country, acting quickly in deciding their status and treating them with real care and respect while they are here when and if they stay.

The fourth matter is probably the most complex. This relates to how we manage online communications where some overt racism and extremism can be seen. As politicians, we are aware of it and can see certain strands but, to be honest, these are not the worst. We have a special responsibility because we are the European, Middle Eastern and African headquarters for most of the social platforms where much of this hate speech, often racist in tone and terrifying, is becoming evident. We must work with the companies to ensure they have duty of care stitched into their business models. It is not possible to police every online communication on every social media network but the business models, regulatory systems, ethos and ethics, along with rules and punitive measures, should be in place to ensure we do not see what has been a characteristic of these online platforms, which is division and derision, becoming acceptable in our daily lives.

I hope to give the Taoiseach as much time as possible to reply as I am keen to hear his views. Do we not need to ensure that we as a country have the maxim that my security is maximised when my neighbour's security is protected too, and that our security is best guaranteed when prosperity is shared across this country? We should set ourselves the target of being the country with the least divergence in wealth and income as best we can. Such matters are often the root of these fearful racist tendencies and instincts; communities can sometimes feel they are being left behind, which breeds resentment and fear of "other" or "new".

We must ensure the new communities can get a leg up and are not relying on a separate "black" economy - literal in this case - where people may not be paid properly and working conditions are not as good. We will manage this matter best by tackling racism and creating a social justice economy that guarantees everybody's security and prosperity. In doing so, we will remove the scourge of "othering" and creating a basic divergence that facilitates the racism that exists in our country. Let us not pretend racism does not exist here. It is our job to try to help remove it. I am interested to hear how the Taoiseach's conversation went yesterday and if he agrees with those kinds of measures.

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